Armed Forces colonel and businessman caught in defence fraud – photo

Law enforcement officers have exposed another scheme to embezzle public money under defence contracts for Ukraine’s Security and Defence Forces.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); Specialised Defence Prosecutor's Office of the Western Region

Details: Following a complex operation, the head of a department of the Armed Forces Support Command and his accomplice, the CEO of a defence supplier, were reportedly caught red-handed in Kyiv on 15 January.

The detainees are a colonel in Ukraine’s Armed Forces and the director of a Lviv-based company who set up a kickback scheme when signing contracts.

According to the investigation, the military official was set to receive a bribe of nearly US$45,000 from the businessman. In return, he had promised to sign a contract on the supply of defence goods to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The SSU detained both men as the first "tranche" of US$14,600 was being handed over.

The planned deal between the businessman and the Armed Forces was worth UAH 36 million (US$958,000) in total.

In the course of more than 30 searches at the suspects' workplaces and residences in Kyiv and Lviv, law enforcement officers seized:

▪️ computers, mobile phones, electronic data storage devices, documents and rough accounting records containing evidence of the criminal scheme;

▪️ almost UAH 10 million (approx. US$266,000) in cash, the origin of which is being investigated.

The military officer is charged with obtaining an undue advantage as an official holding a responsible position. The company director is charged with providing such an undue advantage by acting in the interest of the person providing the undue advantage using his official position.

The court imposed on them a custodial restraint with the right to be released on bail in the amount of UAH 10 million (approx. US$266,000) each. 

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